Spotlight on Sources:
Welcome to Renzulli Learning’s Spotlight on Sources, some of our most engaging resources to excite and inspire your students!
The Renzulli Learning Team is here to support teachers with fantastic resources and lesson ideas each week to help you enrich the lives of all of your students during this upcoming school year.
Renzulli Learning provides your students with many outstanding “Type I” experiences - activities designed to expose students to a wide variety of disciplines, topics, occupations, hobbies, persons, places, and events that would not ordinarily be covered in the regular curriculum - as detailed in the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) by Dr. Joseph Renzulli and Dr. Sally Reis. One of our favorite kinds of Type I Activities are Virtual Field Trips!
Renzulli Learning has Virtual Field Trips for everyone! Whether you want to view the savannah in Africa or visit your favorite city you can find a place to go on Renzulli Learning. Virtual Field Trips are a great way to begin engaging your students at the start of the school year! Have students complete our Self- Assessment for Virtual Field Trips, or complete a journal entry to share their thoughts and ideas!
Have students go to My Enrichment Activities and choose Virtual Field Trips. From there they can browse the Virtual Field Trips based on their Profiler Results or they can do an Advanced Search to find Virtual Field Trips on a specific topic or to a specific location. Once your students have located the Virtual Field Trip of their choice, have them add an entry in their Journal!
Journal Entry: Which of the Virtual Field Trips that you explored would you like to visit in person? Explain why with at least three reasons and details. Do you have any advice for us if we go on this trip?
Check out a few of our favorite activities below!
To locate these activities within Renzulli Learning you can SEARCH Enrichment Activities and type in the title of the activity you would like to locate. For more ideas to infuse enrichment activities with your curriculum, please visit the Unit Supplements on the Teacher Site, under “Teach.” We can also link these enrichment resources to your regular curriculum if you send us a theme or topic.
K-2
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
Reading
Eric Carle achieved fame through his artwork in more than 70 beautiful picture books, such as “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” At this site, you can journey to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art to see galleries of artwork by Eric Carle and other accomplished artists.
4H Virtual Farm: Wheat
Science
What do bread, crackers, cake, and pizza have in common? A basic ingredient in each of these foods is a grain — specifically, wheat. View this slideshow to follow the story of wheat from a handful of seeds to the bakery. Visit a wheat farm and learn about the processes of sowing, harvesting, and threshing. You'll look at a slice of bread in a new way!
All About Birds: Red-tailed Hawk
Science
A Red-tailed Hawk pair has been nesting above Cornell University’s athletic fields since 2012. They make use of two different light towers for their nest sites. We installed cameras at both of these sites to get a better look at the intimate behavior of these well-known birds as they raise their young amid the bustle of a busy campus. Red-tailed hawks are known for their brick-colored tails.They are keen-eyed and efficient hunters. Watch these birds live and learn more about them.
3-5
AirPano: Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt
Art
Art
Egypt is a very unique country, home to the Sphinx and Pyramids. Click the link to view the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
National Gallery of Art: East Building Virtual Tour
Fine Arts
The National Gallery of Art presents a virtual tour of the East Building. Zoom in and out, and navigate freely around the grounds and inside the architecture, which was erected in 1978.
360 Degree Cockpit Views
Science
Have you ever dreamed of piloting an airplane? Experience the next best thing as you visit the cockpits, cabins, and crew areas of famous aircraft. Choose the Concorde, the Jaguar fighter bomber, the Avro Vulcan bomber, or the De Havilland Comet. Click an image and then use your mouse to navigate a 360 degree panorama!
6-9
Rembrandt van Rijn: Abraham Entertaining the Angels
Fine Arts
Fine Arts
Rebrandt van Rijn, known simply as Rembrandt, is one of the most famous and influential artists of all time. This online exhibition will explore Rembrandt’s artwork depicting the biblical scenes of Abraham and much more.
Buckingham Palace
History & Social Studies
History & Social Studies
Have you ever wondered what it is like to live like a king or queen? Now is your chance to explore Buckingham Palace! Get an idea of what it feels like to stand on the Grand Staircase or even explore a Virtual Room in this exciting website.
Golden Spike Ceremony Virtual Tour
History & Social Studies
History & Social Studies
Check out this website and virtually explore the first transcontinental railroad at the Golden Spike National Historic Site in Utah. On this website, you can see their resident steam locomotives Jupiter and No. 119 or take a virtual ride along the original railbed on the Promontory Trail Auto Tour!
10-12
Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an Excavation
History & Social Studies
History & Social Studies
In 1922, after seven years of searching, Howard Carter found the tomb of Tutankhamun. Over the course of several more seasons, through 1930, he excavated the site. Study the history of the search, and explore diaries and journals, drawings, maps, plans, and photographs that document the excavation.
Green Mountain Audubon Society Nature Walk
Science
Science
Take a virtual nature walk at this website. Visit a brook, a meadow, a marsh, a pond, a forest, a river, and a swamp. Learn about the animals and plants that live in each habitat.
CHOC NICU at St. Joseph Hospital Virtual Tour
Science
Science
Interested in learning more about being a pediatrician or a doctor? Click the link to see what the CHOC Children's NICU at St. Joseph Hospital has to offer with this interesting virtual tour!
Thanks for being a part of the Renzulli Learning family and we hope you find these resources helpful.
Your Renzulli Learning Team